


Frankencoffee

by Dragonlingdar



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Exams, M/M, Male Friendship, Studying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-09 18:48:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19481851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonlingdar/pseuds/Dragonlingdar
Summary: 8AM Introductory College Biology was rough, but that didn't stop Alfyn from trying to befriend the young man who sat next to him.





	Frankencoffee

**Author's Note:**

  * For [0wlish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/0wlish/gifts).



> Well, you said: "Modern AUs!! Coffee shop, college, ROAD TRIP, literally put them anywhere in the modern world and I’ll eat it up" so have a modern AU. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> As an aside, I am not your assigned creator; nevertheless, I hope you are satisfied by my offering as well.
> 
> Due to me being a fanfic fossil: Nothing Octopath Traveler belongs to me.

Introductory college biology at 8AM was  _ brutal _ , but it was the only time it had fit into Alfyn’s schedule. As a pre-med hopeful, he had a  _ lot _ of courses to complete, and not a lot of time to complete them in. He was grateful that he was a morning person, but not everyone in the class was--such as the student who sat next to him. It had taken a while, but Alfyn had eventually pried a name out of the platinum-haired young man: Therion. 

From what Alfyn could tell, Therion was an exceptional student, as long as he could stay awake. Alfyn had caught Therion taking notes off of  _ his _ notes whenever Therion lost the battle against unconsciousness at some point during class, so had begun to make sure to take more notes than necessary. Alfyn just  _ got _ a lot of biology--that didn’t mean other people understood it as readily. 

However, on the morning of the midterm, Alfyn felt that Therion could use the help of a little bit of caffeine to stay awake, so stopped by the campus cafe and grabbed him the largest coffee he could buy. Not that he  _ knew _ whether or not Therion drank coffee, since he seemed to arrive at class through sheer willpower alone and continuously looked like he had simply rolled out of bed before zombie-walking across campus. Nevertheless, it was worth a shot. If Therion didn’t drink coffee, Alfyn was sure  _ someone _ in the class would be grateful for the drink.

However, when he arrived at the classroom, it was to find that Therion already had a can of an energy drink next to him--unopened, but there--as he studied.

“Hey, Therion,” Alfyn said cheerfully. “Ready for the midterm today?”

Therion  _ twitched _ before looking up when Alfyn set the coffee down next to him. 

“I wasn’t sure, but I figured I would get you somethin’ to help you keep alert, since you mighta been up late studyin',” Alfyn said. “So, I bought you this. But, if you don’t drink coffee--”

Therion pulled the cup over to him before Alfyn could finish and took off the top. He drank some of the hot beverage far faster than Alfyn thought was healthy, then opened the energy drink.

“I’m going to die,” Therion muttered to himself and dumped the energy drink straight into the coffee.

Alfyn  _ stared _ .

“You...you  _ do _ know what that much caffeine can do to your body, right? Assumin’ that somethin’ in the energy drink doesn’t react with somethin’ else in the coffee,” Alfyn said.

“I know,” Therion responded and took a  _ long _ gulp of the concoction. A grimace passed over Therion’s face as he put the cup back down firmly on his desk.

_ I doubt that tastes any kind of good, _ Alfyn thought as he dropped his bag down onto the floor.

“Look, I don’t want you to OD on  _ caffeine,” _ Alfyn said and sat down next to Therion.

“I’ll let you know if I have trouble breathing, vomiting, hallucinations, confusion, chest pain, irregular or fast heartbeat, uncontrollable muscle movements, or convulsions,” Therion drawled.

“...have you overdosed on caffeine before?” Alfyn asked, both suspicious and  _ deeply _ concerned.

“No,” Therion responded. “But I did enough research to make sure I’d be able to recognize it if I started to suffer from it. Pretty sure I’ve built up high tolerance, though. Unfortunately.”

“You’re probably going to end up crashin’ hard after the test,” Alfyn said. “I’m gonna go get you a water, okay? Since it’ll be partly my fault.”

“You already bought me a coffee. I don’t need anything else from you,” Therion said and took another chug of frankencoffee. 

_ Ouch, _ Alfyn thought. “All I need is a ‘thank you,’ nothin’ more.”

Therion gave Alfyn a dry, skeptical look. “Sure. I’m going to get in some last minute studying, so if you could just leave me alone?”

“Um, maybe...we can quiz each other?” Alfyn said. “I’m sure I can think of some trickier questions that might be on the exam.”

Therion looked  _ irritated _ , but slowly nodded and put away the notebook. “Fine. If you hold a grasshopper’s head underwater, will it drown?”

“No, ‘cause it doesn’t use lungs to breathe, it’s got trachea,” Alfyn answered. “True or false: the right ventricle pumps oxygenated blood to the body.”

“False. It pumps  _ de _ oxygenated blood to the lungs. What’s the upper stomach sphincter called?”

“That’s the lower esophageal. The one that leads to the small intestine's the pyloric sphincter.”

Alfyn was glad he had found  _ something _ to engage Therion in besides a “Good morning” and “Have a good day.” Therion really  _ was _ as smart as Alfyn thought he was, since he stumped Alfyn himself with a few questions as they reviewed for the midterm. Alfyn didn’t even mind how  _ smug _ the young man looked whenever he tripped Alfyn up with a question. He didn’t think it was a competition, but if it helped Therion review and got him to relax around Alfyn, Alfyn didn’t mind dredging up some of the more esoteric bits he had read in the textbook. 

“Wow, think we can be study partners?” Alfyn asked in a whisper as the tests were handed out. 

“...why?” Therion asked, the ease that Alfyn had been desperately cultivating vanishing in an instant. 

“‘Cause you’re smart but two heads are better than one when it comes to studyin’?”

“I don’t need or want your help,” Therion responded. “I study better on my own, anyway.”

Alfyn didn’t bother to conceal a heavy, wounded sigh and took a copy of the test before passing one to Therion. They had fifty minutes for fifty questions, so Alfyn immediately set to work.

He found himself pleasantly surprised--some of the ‘trick’ questions he and Therion had asked each other were indeed on the test, and, out of the corner of his eye, Alfyn could  _ just _ catch the smallest of smirks on Therion’s face. 

_ Maybe I’ll get him to agree  _ after _ the test? Now that he sees that we might make a good team? _ Alfyn briefly thought before returning his attention to the test, barely keeping himself from humming happily.

Therion finished the last of the frankencoffee just as the time was called. 

“How’d you think you did?” Alfyn asked as he followed Therion down the lecture hall stairs to turn in the test.

“Hm?” Therion said, apparently surprised that Alfyn continued to insist on talking to him. “Oh. I think I did pretty well.”

“Me, too!” Alfyn chirped once they were both heading up and towards the lecture hall exit. “In fact, I really think that our review helped a ton. We should do it again!”

Therion gave him some rather  _ intense _ side-eye. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you keep trying?”

“To be your friend? ‘Cause I like you and I think you’d be a great person to get to know better! You’re clearly really smart, considerin’ how you test and how, uh,  _ biting  _ your sarcasm can be.”

Alfyn hadn’t thought the side-eye could get more intense, but, somehow, it did. “You want to be my friend,” Therion said slowly.

“Yup!”

“You can’t buy nearly enough coffee to bribe me.”

“I...wasn’t tryin’ to? I thought it’d be a nice thing to do for you?”

Alfyn still counted it a bit of a win that Therion hadn’t stopped walking next to him, even if he was a little hurt at how Therion thought he was trying to  _ buy _ his friendship.

“Uh-huh,” Therion eventually said. “Let’s see our grades on the exam. Then I’ll give some thought about forming a study group with you.”

Alfyn smiled brightly. “Great!”

Therion shook his head, sped up slightly, and walked away, leaving a rather cheerful Alfyn behind to wander to his own class.


End file.
